China's Xi supports progress in
inter-Korean talks: South Korea's Blue House
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[January 11, 2018]
By Hyonhee Shin
SEOUL (Reuters) - Chinese President Xi
Jinping on Thursday welcomed recent progress in inter-Korean talks
during a telephone call with South Korean President Moon Jae-in, the
South's Blue House said in a statement.
At Tuesday's talks, North Korea said it would attend the Winter Olympics
in the South next month, and both sides agreed to resolve problems
through dialogue and revive military consultations to avoid accidental
conflict.
Seoul and Beijing agreed in October to move beyond a year-long stand-off
over the deployment of a U.S. anti-missile system in South Korea, a
dispute that has been devastating to South Korean businesses that rely
on Chinese consumers.
Moon made his first visit to China last month.
During the 30-minute call, Xi said he supported Moon's stance that the
advancement of inter-Korean ties and the denuclearisation of the
peninsula should "go in parallel", Moon's office said.
"The two leaders agreed to strengthen strategic communication and
cooperation," the statement said.
It added that the two leaders hoped the latest dialogue effort would
lead to a peaceful resolution of the North Korean nuclear issue and the
establishment of peace on the Korean peninsula, beyond next month's
Olympics.
In Beijing, the official China Daily cited Xi as telling Moon that China
wanted to work with South Korea to "jointly maintain regional peace and
stability".
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Chinese President Xi Jinping speaks during a joint press briefing
with French President Emmanuel Macron, not shown, at the Great Hall
of the People in Beijing, China January 9, 2018. REUTERS/Mark
Schiefelbei/Pool
In a telephone call on Wednesday, Moon and U.S. President Donald
Trump also said the dialogue "could naturally lead to talks between
the United States and North Korea for the denuclearization of the
Korean peninsula after the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics."
Washington welcomed the talks as a first step towards resolving the
crisis over North Korea's program to develop nuclear missiles
capable of reaching the United States, but it has reiterated that
any talks involving the U.S. must be aimed at the North's
denuclearization.
However, Pyongyang said it would not discuss its nuclear weapons
because they were aimed only at the United States and not its
"brethren" in China, Russia and South Korea, showing that a
diplomatic breakthrough to the crisis remains far off.
(Reporting by Hyonhee Shin; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)
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